This school sux!

Colleges & Universities University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Sorry about the title, I need views, I was actually referring to my high school.
Chance me:</p>

<p>Basics:</p>

<p>Male
White (Polish descent)
I attend a less-than-stellar Catholic school (■■■) in a relatively small city in South Texas.</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<ul>
<li>SAT I (breakdown): 2270 (CR: 740, M: 760, W: 770)</li>
<li>ACT: 33 superscored (SAT better obviously)</li>
<li>PSAT: 214</li>
<li>SAT II: Spanish with Listening, Math II, Chemistry (good scores expected on all, 800 on Spanish and probably Math also)</li>
<li>GPA (3 years, not on 4.0 scale): 100.651 weighted; 97.659 unweighted</li>
<li>Rank: 5 of about 120</li>
<li>AP (scores in parentheses): Spanish Language (self-study 5), Calculus AB (5), English Langauge (4)</li>
<li>Senior year: Calculus BC, Biology, English Literature</li>
<li>Course load: Hardest possible; I’m one math class ahead of every one else in my grade (they basically made a new one (Calc BC) for me)</li>
<li>Major Awards: Siemens and/or Intel is a possibility this year; PSAT Commended</li>
</ul>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<ul>
<li>Extracurriculars (leadership):
-Boy Scouts (Eagle Scout): very active, work at camps, many positions of leadership in my Troop.
-Cross country for several years, varsity.
-Science club (not school-based): taught at a local hospital by a surgeon, meet weekly, study advanced organic chemistry, anatomy, biochemistry, etc.
-Participate in city Knowledge Bowl, 1st place this year.
-Boys State this past Summer
-Speaking competitions: 1st at school, 2nd citywide, same for 2 years.
-Participate in school theatrical productions, both significant acting roles and technical support.
-Peer tutoring (mainly of Freshmen), after school around 2 times a week, mainly in Spanish.
-Research involving plants and gene expression that has implications in human diseases (about 100 hours)
-Statewide academic competitions, place in district and qualify for state
-Math club, 3 years
-NHS, of course
-many “academic excellence awards” from teachers
-AP scholar
I speak Spanish fluently as a second language, where does this go? </li>
<li>Summer stuff: Iattended the Duke TIP program, studying Algebra II (which I subsequently skipped in school) and computer science (programming), the Summers and Freshman and Sophomore years. This past Summer, internship at a local computer company helping with computer repairs, website upkeep, etc.</li>
<li>Research: aforementioned; have submitted to Siemens and will submit to Intel</li>
<li>Essays: not really started, but assumed to be great</li>
<li>Volunteer/Community service: around 200 hours; activities include church fundraisers, school fundraisers and events, nursing homes, tutoring, and Boy Scouts, which includes teaching young kids, constructing certain structures such as fences, etc.</li>
<li>Teacher Recommendations: 2 from “AP savants,” also supplemental one from said Science Club teacher</li>
</ul>

<p>Etc.:
Yes financial aid
Applying to Sciences; major in biochem</p>

2

<p>stupid title</p>

<p>your chances are as good as a a zebra appearing in fantasy land on the 4th of July with a handful of of candy corn</p>

3

<p>you’ve got a shot.</p>

4

<p>Thanks anonymousername. And I know that I am “competitive,” I just wanted to know to what degree.</p>

5

<p>why are u applying to Berkeley? Go somewhere else!</p>

6

<p>i agree with dreamspace. definitely apply to Berkeley but i think it’s fair enough to say that you should also consider some ivies or other top privates (i.e. MIT, Duke, Stanford, Notre Dame, etc). take a look at some of the chance me threads on the forums for those schools and you’ll notice that have very similar stats.</p>

7

<p>Thanks everyone. Any others?</p>

8

<p>for the record hardly any schools superscore the ACT although MIT does which could be a good option for you, regardless a 2270 on the SAT > 33 ACT</p>

9

<p>You’ve got a good shot, but as above, don’t restrict yourself - apply to other places with similarly-high-quality programs. What I know of MIT suggests that you may or may not actually like it there, but there are other universally-great schools with spectacular chemistry programs out there for undergrad. Harvey Mudd, for example.</p>

10

<p>just b/c of ur stupid title and for wasting my time i’d say u have no shot at all for berkeley. go to uc davis or merced</p>

11

<p>I’d say you’ve got a pretty good shot. </p>

<p>Where else are you thinking of applying?</p>

12

<p>I’m also applying to Rice, Duke, Stanford, Caltech, MIT and Princeton.
I took the subjects yesterday. I would be shocked if I didn’t make 800 on math II and Spanish. Chem was probably >750. Am I “in” now?
Also, no Siemens. :(</p>

13

<p>

</p>

<p>that’s interesting!</p>

14

<p>just b/c of ur stupid title and for wasting my time i’d say u have no shot at all for berkeley. go to uc davis or merced</p>

15

<p>^^it wasn’t really humorous the first time around</p>

16

<p>I’d say you have a pretty good shot, and not just at Berkeley. And since they’ve decided to start enrolling more out-of-state students, your chances are even better!</p>

17

<p>make sure you spend some time on your essays. they actually spend time reading them.</p>

18

<p>Unless you really screw up on your essays, you are in.</p>

19

<p>good shot. and btw, i don’t think there is a biochem major at cal. there is chemical biology (which is an emphasis on chemistry with a little bit of bio)</p>